Classic French Cherry Clafoutis (2024)

“Clafoutis” (pronounced kla-foo-tee) is one of those funny French words that makes a dish sound so fancy, while it’s actually so simple to make. Some fresh seasonal cherries and a few basic baking ingredients (flour, sugar, eggs and milk) is all you need to create this utterly delicious dessert in your own kitchen. So if you’ve never tried to make a Cherry Clafoutis at home before, stay with me – you’ll be amazed how easy it is to prepare it!

Probably because it is so quick and simple to make, this custardy baked flan nestled with fruits is a staple among French home cooks in the Summer. It is ideal to make do with the abundance of cherries in early Summer and combines them with an eggy, almost custard-like batter, which makes for a refreshing yet comforting dessert.

My recipe will give you the simplest version of a Cherry Clafoutis. Simple, classic, timeless. It just works wonderfully. The clafoutis is soft and tender, just sweet enough, with bursts of juicy cherries, a puffy golden top and a satisfying chewy rim. This is a fabulous ending to any Summer meal, served warm or cold. You can enjoy it by the spoonful or cut it in slices just like a cake. You can leave it bare or with a light dusting of powdered sugar, and top it with scoops of vanilla ice-cream.

In France, clafoutis can be made using a variety of sour cherry known as “Griottes“, black cherries or the Bigarreau Cherry, a hard-fleshed pale cherry that is often used in baking and for the making or jams of candies.

In North America, you can use sour cherries such as Montmorency, which is from the Griotte family. If you’re worried that your cherries are too sour, use a mix of sour and sweet cherries. I find thesweet Bing cherries great to bake with, since they are very sweet, hard-fleshed and do not release much liquid when baking. Bing Cherries are one the most commonly available sweet cherry varieties in North America.

As per tradition in France, when making a Cherry Clafoutis from Limousin, you must leave the cherry pits intact for more flavor. The pits contain amygdaline, the same active chemical found in almond extract. So during the baking process, some amygdalin from the pits is released into the clafoutis batter and gives a subtle nutty note.

Skipping the cherry-pitting certainly makes the preparation for this recipe way quicker and easier too. But I feel it also makes the eating part far less enjoyable… You can choose whichever option you prefer (with pitted or un-pitted cherries). If you opt to pit the cherries (like I usually do), slice the cherry in half, twist off one half and remove the pit from the other half with the tip of a pointy knife.

How to store thisClassic French Cherry Clafoutis?

• Chill it. After making (and enjoying) this clafoutis – if you have any leftovers – you can cover it with plastic film and store it in the fridge for up to 4 days.
• Don’t freeze it. I don’t recommend freezing a clafoutis. The texture is delicate, and it will likely get soggy/mushy when thawing.

Common Questions

Can I prepare the batter ahead of time?

The batter can be prepared hours, up to a day ahead, kept well sealed in the fridge.

Can this recipe be made using other fruits?

While it wouldn’t be traditional, you can absolutely made this recipe using other fruits such as apricots, raspberries or strawberries. Even apple or pear could work well! Just know that when a clafoutis is made with another fruit than cherry, traditionnally in France it is called a “Flaugnarde”.

Can I use frozen fruits for this recipe?

Tricky question! Frozen cherries typically work for this recipe, but I always thaw and allow them to “drain” on paper towels before using them. Fruits such as strawberries and raspberries typically turn to mush once thawed, so I would advise against their usage.

• This recipe works for one large clafoutis : use a 8 to 9 inch circular pie dish or skillet and bake for 1 hour. For individual portions, use 8 individual (1-cup) baking dishes or ramekins and bake for 40 minutes instead.
• Take your eggs out of the fridge 1 hour before preparing, so they warm up to room temperature.
• Make sure you use2% or whole milk(no skimmed or fat-free).
• This is a simple batter recipe,easily done by hand with a whisk. Although, if the batter ends up being lumpy, you can simply pass it though a fine mesh strainer to get rid of any lumps. You should have a smooth batter with a heavy cream consistency.
• I like to add 1 tablespoon of Kirsch (sour cherry liquor) to my batter to boost the cherry taste – but this is optional.

I hope you’ll love thisFrench Cherry Clafoutisas much as I do! If you have any questions, please leave a comment.

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Audrey

Bonjour ! I'm Audrey Le Goff, a French cookery writer, photographer, creator of the blog Pardon your French, and cookbook author of Rustic French Cooking Made Easy.